The
Volta River Authority (VRA) has attributed the current energy crises to
unforeseen power generation defects, which it says have made it
operationally difficult to supply electricity across the country.
Following
the recent power fluctuations which have since courted controversy over
which supplier should be blamed for the shortcomings, the VRA has
claimed responsibility for the insufficient electricity supply to
various communities in the country.
Mr. Sam Kwesi Fletcher, VRA
Head of Coporate Affairs, in an interview with Kwame Sefa-kayi on Peace
FM’s morning show programme,“kokrokoo”, indicated that the energy
situation has arisen as a result of the imbalances in supply and demand
for electricity.
According to him, the supply of power to
vicinities and residential areas of the country has dwindled because of
the high demand on the Authority to generate power for the entire
nation.
He explained that the supply cannot meet the demand for
power but hoped the shortfall will be rectified to remediate the
situation.
Making clarification about the causes of the power
fluctuations, he expounded that the Authority noticed defects in the
Takoradi Thermal Power Station (TTPS) at Aboadze, in which three
turbines developed faults which complicated the operations of the
Authority to generate power for the transmission company, GRIDCO.
“The
problem emanated from Aboadze. We have something called the switch
yard, it’s like a substation but it’s the first substation we generate
power before GRIDCO does transmission throughout the country…it
encountered some problem and so, it couldn’t sustain the load from the
machines. So, the machines also became faulty.
“So, there was a
need for us to switch it off for repairs and then, restart the
machines…Three machines run down immediately…When the lights go out,
most of the problem is from generation. Because we don’t have enough
supply,” he said.
He continued that the Authority encountered
problems with a substation at Aboadze, which affected the generation
machines. If the machines had not been restarted; they would be
overloaded from the already 250 megawatts power capacity to 400
megawatts. This he said would intensify the load on the power generation
machinery.
He therefore emphasized the need for an establishment
of reserves to store up enough energy to complement the supply of power
to various areas in the country.
With the economy growing
rapidly, there is a huge demand for electricity; he said, adding that
the demand does not correspond with the capacity of energy the company
generates for transmission. He further detailed that the company is
expected to produce about 1700 megawatts to 1720 megawatts each day and
this comes on the back of the energy needs which hike up by 10% per
year.
He therefore proposed for government’s assistance to set up a storage facility to augment the supply of power to the country.
He
highlighted: “We have to produce exactly 1720. If we even meet the
demand but we don’t have a reserve. And our reserve, the only way we can
get a reserve is when we have a machine available so when anything goes
bad, we can start that machine…Having a reserve is as important as
producing enough to meet the demand.”
The power failures were
expected to be resolved this year. Several Ghanaians hoped it would be a
thing of the past to experience the regular blackouts in 2012, but this
has hit the rocks. Day in and out, the nation is plunged into total
darkness despite the incessant concerns raised by stakeholders.
However, the VRA projects next month to find a lasting solution to the rampant blackouts.
Head
of Corporate Affairs of the VRA assured the nation that the Authority
is working assiduously to ensure that the thermal plant with an
installed capacity of 132 megawatts becomes fully operational by the end
of February to ameliorate the energy situation in the country.
He
commended government for supporting the company to amortize its debts
and also subvert the cost involved in generating power from crude oil. |
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